I didn’t know what I know now, until I learned it. Poetic? Yes. Universally true? Absolutely.
The idea struck me as I’ve watched people struggle with changes in technology. Something small for one, is insurmountable for another. What’s also true is attitude. If someone is open to change and willing to learn a new way, their life is much easier. They adapt more quickly to technology. And they use the tools around them to their advantage. The opposite is painfully true…for them and everyone around them.
When you look at human nature, there’s one fundamental constant: fear. Everything else is learned. Everything.
As a mom of 3 who has devoured books about learning, brains, and the importance of the basics, I’ve watched my three ‘littles’ go from taking their first breath to thriving, crazy monsters. I see their curiosity every day. Their questions are endless. The amount of information they process and learn is phenomenal. Down to the moment they fall asleep, their learning is insatiable. It makes me wonder, where does our appetite for learning end and the dread begin? At what point do we become resistant to change?
With three prominent generations in the workforce, it’s easy to oversimplify, even generalize, that:
- Boomers are slow and resistant
- Millennials adapt quickly, and
- Gen Xers are somewhere in between
I say a better test is ATTITUDE!
Here are three very relevant examples of how this is playing out in today’s marketplace:
For a company with hundreds of thousands of employees, dragging resistant people could mean the end. So what is an organization to do? AT&T is offering education for all who are willing. Where advancement simply means not becoming obsolete. Even their current marketing efforts point to them striving to become mobile first and known as ‘the future.’
In a February 2016 article by the New York Times, AT&T Tells Its Workers: Adapt, or Else, AT&T made it public their employees will adapt or they will be left behind. BOLD! When you look at everything technology can do and how fast it changes, four years is an eternity.
In an April 2015 Huffington Post Blog, Josh Bersin cited an Oxford Economics study that showed the number one issue faced by employees is obsolescence of our own skills. If people aren’t replenishing half of their skills every three years, they can’t keep up with the continuous reinvention needed in today’s workforce. Is this true for you?
A March 2016 Harvard Business Review article, Does Your Business Model Look to the Future or Just Defend the Present?, focuses on leveraging transitional strategies and business platforms to remain relevant. This is heavy for any company. How can an organization accomplish this without an adaptable workforce, who have the right attitude and are willing to change?
Applicable to technology, innovation, and everyday life…it’s no longer what you know, it’s how fast can you learn? It starts with the right attitude.
What’s The Risk?
The risk of not being adaptable to change is becoming obsolete. If we don’t adapt, when we become resistant to change, we make more than one decision. We decide:
- Not to remain relevant.
- Change is harder than trying.
- It’s ok for the world to pass us by.
At Gibson, one of our core values is: Optimism Reigns – attitude and outlook impact results. Attitude is everything. Every good coach, successful player, and motivational speaker will tout the necessity of having the right attitude.
People can choose attitude, but each choice has consequences. If you are determined to learn, NO ONE CAN STOP YOU. If you are not willing to learn, NO ONE CAN HELP YOU.
